Achilles the cat spending his birthday in ceiling at Broomfield airport

He leapt into hole in the ceiling before flight home with owner

ACHILLES STUCK IN CEILING: Achilles, the Bengal cat since Monday afternoon has been in the ceiling of the Denver Air Center building at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield.

Achilles the cat is not having a very good birthday. The Bengal cat, which turns 3 today, according to his owner, since Monday afternoon has been living in the ceiling of the Denver Air Center building at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, after climbing through a hole in a bathroom ceiling.

The Denver Air Center is a private business that provides ground services, including hangar space, fueling and deicing services to private pilots that fly into Rocky Mountain Metro. On Monday afternoon, a woman was preparing to fly out of the airport to return to her home back east, according to staff at Denver Air Center, but first wanted to let her pet cat, Achilles, out of his carrier to use the litter box. The pilot, whose name is not being released, took Achilles into a crew bathroom in the Denver Air Center building, but emerged alone moments later.

"The pilot came to the front desk and came to me," Denver Air Center customer service representative Linda Cangilla said Tuesday. "She said she had an emergency in the bathroom and needed a ladder. We didn't know what that meant at the time."

Achilles, once let out of his carrier, apparently leapt onto a sink and then up through a hole in the ceiling created by recent plumbing work, Cangilla said, recounting what Achilles owner told her. Despite attempts Monday to bait the cat with food and water and get him to leave the space between the building's suspended ceiling tiles and the second floor, Achilles did not come close enough to be caught.

"They chased him around all yesterday. Nobody can really get him to come out," said Cangilla, who can occasionally hear Achilles meowing above her desk. "They did leave food in there last night, that he ate. They've tried tuna fish."

Cangilla said Achilles' owner had no choice but to fly home Monday, but has a brother who lives in Denver who has since taken over efforts to snare Achilles. The pilot's brother is at the Denver Air Center building today using his pet cat in a carrier as bait to coax Achilles out of the ceiling, Cangilla said, as well as other unique methods.

"Apparently he responds to a bell, but we tried that and he's too scared, I guess," Cangilla said. "Or he thinks he's on a big adventure."

Kenneth Maenpa, manager of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, said Tuesday that he hopes Achilles can be safely recovered from the ceiling, but was "blown away" at the level of attention the animal's situation was bringing to the airport.

"We're getting more press on this cat than we are the tower," Maenpa said Tuesday, referring to the airport's brand-new air traffic control tower, which was officially dedicated last week.

For now Achilles remains stuck in the ceiling of the Denver Air Center, spending his birthday and Valentine's Day far away from his owner. What happens next?

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